Ship of the Damned
by Sarah the mutant farm girl
Summary: I'll write a better one later. Boy falls in love. Girl needs scape goat. Girl seduces boy. Boy pays for crime. Girl lives happily ever after with her lover. Boy rots in Azkaban


_Disclaimer: None of this is mine wise guy!_

**Ship of the Damned**

I scribbled my name down. DONE! Finally! It was over and I could go back to my life. My world. Outside the gates, a two hour boat ride away my wife waited on me. Our son would be with her other children at her mother's. I closed my eyes. Her other children were younger than our son. Holding her hand would be _him_. His name escaped my memory only because I never liked it. Never wanted the idea. The knowledge that if I ever left here she'd meet me with _him_ and divorce papers. I would sign my name to them as I had just signed the release forms. I would do anything to keep her safe. I had done the unthinkable.

My body gave an involuntary twitch. I shivered. Not from the dampness or the passing dementor. No I was used to all of this. It was because I had taken the blame. I had taken the fall for her crime. I would do it again. She was my world. She was the reason I suffered so. She was Pansy Parkinson. In our school days I had secretly loved her. But she belonged to Draco Malfoy. I knew this and respected it. After all the Malfoy's weren't people to steal from. When Draco disappeared after The Dark Lords defeat I made my move. I swept up the pieces and put her back together.

"This way Blaise." a grubby looking little skeleton of a man grabbed my arm and pulled me along. I started to pull away from him. To declare that I was a free man to tell him who he was dealing with. But I stopped myself. I just followed him my head bowed down. He muttered things about my luck and the small number of people to ever sign release papers. I ground my teeth and fell into thought.

She said she loved me. Said I was all she would ever need. Pulled me in. Wrapped me up. I was like a fly in a spider's web. I was stuck. By the time I realized what was going on it was too late. She'd sank her fangs in me and was sucking me dry. My money disappeared in a blink on the eye. My reputation was trampled and muddied. I had lost control.

_"You love me don't you?" Pansy asked. _

_"More each day. You are my sun. With out you I would simply die." I answered kissing her. A deep passionate kiss that came from my soul and reached her lips. _

_"Good." she said pulling away._ "_I've something to tell you. I did something. They'll come soon.  
When they do, you'll claim my crime. You'll claim the crime. You will do MY time. Won't you?" I nodded blindly. "Good." she purred. Then she kissed me. She pulled at my robes. Forced me back on our bed. She sealed the deal. I had sold my soul for a night I would never forget. _

"You hear me boy? Get your sorry behind on that ship now or go back to your cell." The man ordered. We were standing outside. Waves crashed against the rocky mountain that seemed to come out of nowhere. Perched on a flattened top was Azkaban. I complied. I shuffled up the ramp onto the rickety ship. It wasn't really a ship but they called it that. It was more an over grown row boat.

I was shoved below deck and sat down in a seat. Then instructed to row. I did. The mind numbing work was perfect. I rowed. I pushed myself. If I was physically exhausted when I arrived my outside would match my inside. Dead. The robes were moth eaten and thread bare. My hair was a long matted mess. I hadn't showered since I was shoved in my cell ten years ago. Ten years of stale bread, warm drinking water, and stagnant wash water. Ten years of relieving myself in a corner over a hole.

_"SHUT UP!" She screamed. I crashed to the floor and curled into the fetal position. Tears slid down my cheeks and blood down my chin. I whimpered. _

_"You've done well my flower." Draco strode over to MY wife and kissed her. I saw her eyes roll back in her head, her knees go weak. "You've done just as I planned." he whispered in her ear._

_"I please you my dragon?" she asked her voice was soft and shy._

_"You've never pleased me more Flower." he replied. They both stood over me. His wand hung in his hand a slight breeze would cause it to tumble to the floor. _

_"You love me." I said meekly._

_"I never loved you!" she laughed. "How could I? You're a filthy mud blood. You're son will me my servant soon as he can walk and carry something at the same time."_

_"And you will serve time for a crime you didn't commit." Draco sneered. Bile rose to my mouth. _

_"No." I sobbed. _

_"Oh yes. You were so blind." she cackled. Tears stung my eyes. The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. I had bitten through my lip, my nose was bleeding too. Draco raised his wand again. I didn't hear the words but the pain they caused made me scream and twitch. I felt my bowels loosen and knew I had soiled myself._

"Stop, you thirsty?" It was a small woman, maybe in her early twenties, with long brunet hair and soft blue eyes.

"Yes." I answered. She handed me a mug of cold water. I drank. It was the best thing I'd ever drank.

"Hungary?" she asked sitting down on the bench next to me. I nodded and she handed me a loaf of fresh warm bread. I broke a chunk off and shoved it in my mouth. The sweet taste filled my mouth. "You are brave." she told me and I shook my head.

"Stupid." I mumbled between mouthfuls.

"You loved her?" she asked. I nodded. Something shone in her eyes. "She hurt you." she stated it didn't ask it. I felt a kinship with this woman.

"I was blind." I told her. She shook her head and stood up.

"Love blinds us from the truth to protect our hearts. Love lies to us and fills our minds with stories to keep our hearts safe."

She disappeared for a moment and I kept eating. When she returned she carried a bucket of warm water and a bottle of soap. She set them down close to my bench and left again. In all she made three trips, she brought two buckets of warm water, a bottle of soap, a razor, brush, sissors, and clean robes. While I ate and rowed she washed and cut my hair. She was careful while brushing it out. Then she shaved my face and washed it. She washed my chest, arms, hands, and back then pulled a clean shirt on me.

"Wash your bottom half and put these on." she instructed handing me a pair of pants before she left the room.

I did as she asked then returned to rowing. Soon sweat soaked my hair. I rowed faster. Harder. I let the sweat sting my eyes. It seemed years before the girl returned. When she did she mopped my face then took away the buckets and my old clothes. She took my empty mug and the sat beside me.

"You don't have to row. Father only says you do to keep you busy." I let go of the oar and turned to look at her.

"Why are you so kind?"

"My mother died giving birth to me on this boat. Her body was tossed over board. My father was over come with grief. The cook raised me. Until I was seventeen he wouldn't look at me. Then on my seventeenth birthday he comes to me. He took my face in his hands and said 'You look like your mother.' then he took three steps back pulled out his wand held it to his temple. He killed his self. The cook locked his body in the captain's hold. I was lost with grief. My father hadn't ever paid me mind but he at least was alive and near. I went to the kitchen took out a knife and thrust in into my chest. The cook found me and locked me in my chambers." I wasn't sure what she was saying. My mind reeled with the possibilities. "You went mad. You started screaming and yelling. You raised holy hell. 'I loved you and you betrayed me!' you kept screaming. Then last night you found a sharp rock on the wall. You slit your wrist and bled out. This morning the keeper found you. With your life you bought you passage on the ship of the damned."

I shook my head feverishly. It wasn't possible. I wasn't dead. I had finally been found innocent. Finally been released. I was going home to my wife. I would sign her papers. Take my son. I would live the life I had been meant for. This was all wrong. I wasn't dead.

"You're wrong." I said then repeated it. Louder and louder until I was screaming it. I told her she was wrong. The girl stood and came to me. She took my hands in hers.

"It's alright. You will be fine. Everything will be okay now." she said. I suddenly believed her. I had to. I don't know why. But I had to.


End file.
